Just a girl in love with a guy who doesn’t know she exists. The story of Lanie Lange’s life. She rescued Eriksen from drowning when they were teenagers, but she wasn’t supposed to be there. He suffered a head injury in the accident, and he doesn’t remember her involvement. Another woman took credit for her rescue. Eriksen’s back in town now, and Lanie is dying to tell him the truth about that night. There’s just one problem. She has no proof.

Eriksen Sanders got caught up in the moment and found himself married to the wrong person. Divorced and moved home, he’s aiming to get focused and help bring about the new vibe to Happily. Only there’s something about Lanie he can’t figure out. An unexplainable pull and gut feeling that he’s met the woman before. Determined to find out, he does his best to corner her for the truth, but she constantly slips through his fingers.

In the waters of Maiden Lake, they find common ground. There the secrets about more than either of them expect begin to unravel.

His Little Lanie is a small town contemporary romance retelling of the classic fairy tale, The Little Mermaid.

Chapter One

Lanie Lange pushed through the back entrance and winced at the loud scraping of the metal door against the frame. She had to make time to fix that thing. It was an instant headache for it to squawk first off every morning. Maybe next week she’d squeeze it in. Or today. She could finish it today, but ever since their business had relocated to this building, she found herself welding constantly now that she had space to create bigger items. By the end of the day, working on a door that was functional was the farthest thing from her mind.
Not to mention summer was around the corner. Lanie’s workspace area was a large garage bay that was formerly the home of a loading and unloading section of a department store. No air conditioning. Heavy long sleeves and jeans to protect her skin from flying pieces of hot metal in the middle of ninety-plus temperature meant Lanie would get ahead on work and deal with the door later.

She twisted her hair to a low bun and tugged her welding cap down. Today she would complete their latest item to grace their Happily On Your Shelf store. A combination hat and umbrella stand that was all twisty turns and elegant arms formed from a pile of crap Lanie had discovered in her family’s junkyard.

All the main pieces had been cut and bent yesterday. After she poured over measurements and double-checked fittings, she’d have it built by the end of the day. She flipped through her notes on the project when the door leading to the storefront swished open.

Violet, one of the three Happily On Your Shelf owners, walked in with a pep in her step and all the glowing warmth of a newlywed. “Good morning.”

Lanie sucked in another mouthful of coffee to face her friend’s sing-song voice. “Morning.”

“I have some new ideas.” Violet pulled some sheets from the crook of her elbow and held them out. Violet designed. Lanie built. Cindy, the third partner to their endeavor, polished and finalized.

When Violet married over winter, Lanie half expected the designs to slow. If anything, Violet’s happy nuptials had filled her creative well. On the upside, Violet’s imagination pushed Lanie’s boundaries of what she could bring to life. It wasn’t always easy to take a sketch and create a 3D piece of art out of it. Poor Cindy though was left to figure out the rest. Be it working through details to wire a clock, add lighting, or just paint, Cindy managed to complete each idea Violet dreamed up.

Sure, it was challenging at times, but Lanie enjoyed the work. Not just because she got to be in business with her friends. Or that they were succeeding. Or that the work was fun. Okay, it was all those things. Life turned up sweet on occasion. She looked at the papers Violet brought and eyed the detailed sketch of a coffee table. Lanie turned to another sheet and found an end table. Violet had created a few pieces of furniture over the years, but before Lanie could officially begin them, Violet ran through and snatched the drawings back to make changes. They had plans to eventually branch into more prominent pieces of home décor instead of just knickknacks and souvenirs. It was all part of the long-term rollout of their business.
Looked like Violet stripped some of the ornate design off a previous version and went back to rustic with notations to use polished copper with dark-stained wood. As with every piece Violet drew, this one was just as beautiful as the last. “Are you going to let me build any of this before you take them away again?”

“Probably not.”

Lanie held the papers up. “You know, these would look good in my cabin with the patio doors and kitchen counters we already did.”

Violet beamed. “I know. That’s what I was thinking of last night and had this idea. I thought, why not use copper for a top instead of glass sunken in? I went back and forth on how much design. At one point I had wrapped the legs with a sort of vine-like element to echo the glass doors we hung there, but it looked busy. And you have that nice thick mantel there that I thought the bareness of these legs stained dark to match would complement well.”

“So maybe let me build these and we actually complete this project to see how it goes?”

“That’s the idea.” Violet sighed and crossed her arms under her chest. “But I don’t know if you can talk Cindy into polishing the copper.”

True point. They had crafted beautiful countertops in the kitchen at the cabin as a test run. They were completely stunning and a bit of a pain to bring out the pattern. Lanie tapped the pages against her palm. “I could swap the copper out for a similar coloring plate to the wrought iron around the glass doors. The deep flat black against the dark wood would be pretty.”

Violet winced. “I thought about that too, but with the thick legs of the wood to match the mantel and a black top, I got a mental image of a railroad theme and couldn’t get the look out of my head.”

And now that Violet put it there, Lanie was stuck with it too. “Maybe oil-rubbed bronze? That would be close to the copper. Close enough anyway, since the kitchen is around the corner and they won’t be put side by side. I’ll have to let Cindy have a look and get her opinion.”

“Perfect.”

Lanie held the sheets away. “But once Cindy puts her two cents in and we make a decision about a final look, you don’t get to swipe these back. Just make new ones. Or tweak off one of the other hundreds of furniture ideas you’ve given.”

“It hasn’t been hundreds.”

Lanie stared her down until Violet caved.

Her friend sighed. “Maybe if you count the ideas I had since the very beginning, before we ever got moved into the new building.”

“I am.”

“You know,” Violet moved to the work table and shifted through the other project ideas that had been piled up and she came out with the daisy sketchy. “You could do another of these.”

Not on her life. Lanie plucked the sheet out and buried it back to the bottom. “No way. Get out, you. I have work to do.”

Violet left with a chuckle. “Have fun. I’m getting the front opened.”

“I’ll have your hat stand finished today if you want to give Cindy the heads-up for this afternoon.”

Violet gave a nod and a wave and disappeared back to where Lanie would just about rather die than be: the storefront. No. Definitely not. All the people, their questions. The smiling in the face of their slow browsing. No way. Lanie settled her welding hood on, knocked it down, and it sealed her into quiet darkness where it was just her and her thoughts.

Under the hood she found the peaceful solace that was only outdone by her quiet swims at Maiden Lake. In the waters she cut through the lake with a constant stream of thoughts and ideas. Here Lanie crouched, twisted, ducked, and brought art to life with each spark and hot run of her tools. The wire gun lit on the metal and caught. Heat swarmed across the front of her as she melted metal together. First tacks and adjustments to get the angles correct. Then she laid down a long ripple of welds. The rhythmic pattern slipped out like a row of overlapping nickels that could compete with a mechanical arm. Moving constantly and working through lunch, she attached the final arm of their decorative umbrella-combo-hat stand and stood back for a look.

Lanie couldn’t wait to see what Cindy would do for this. Cindy usually arrived about now to look at what needed her attention. Lanie knocked the crusted flakes off a weld and stretched. A string of pops zipped up her spine, and a long moan slid out. One more project down meant time to start another.

She could take a break and go for a walk, but that was too risky for running into people. Anyone, really, and all their talking and questions. The chitchat was just exhausting. The weather was fine. Or it was raining. Who cared? Yes, work was great or hard or whatever. Same for everyone. While she could suffer through a long, useless chat, mostly skipping that break and walk meant less opportunity to run into their business neighbors. Or at least one of them specifically.

Not that he knew she really existed. Well, he knew she was alive and all, but that wasn’t the same thing. To save herself from spilling the truth about his past that would paint her a crazy person, she pushed her oxygen tank hoses to the side, hung up her hood, and consulted Violet’s drawings to figure out what to work on next. At some point Violet must have come through the warehouse, because that damn daisy sculpture was back on top. Never. That thing required tacking together about seventy-five nails to create the bloom. Lanie had built exactly one of those and had no plans to repeat the meticulous process again. She returned the design to its rightful place at the bottom of the stack.

The side door by the garage bay opened with a booming scrape against the frame, instantly dragging up guilt for not fixing it yet. She brushed the worries aside like always. The door creaked and grunted as it closed. Before Cindy could say anything, Lanie waved without looking up. “I know, I know. It needs to be fixed.”

“Probably nothing a little W-D can’t take care of.” A male voice echoed in the room.

She stilled as the rumbling baritone sounds rolled over her, and she slowly turned to see it wasn’t Cindy. It was the one man who didn’t know she existed in the way she knew he existed.

Fun fact: An eighteen-year-old boy having racy pictures of his seventeen-year-old girlfriend is against the law. Jacob Brimm is handed the option to leave their small town or face legal action from his girlfriend’s mother. He vows to return for Violet, but hearing she married and started a family quickly after his departure, Jacob gives up on their happily ever after. Only when work brings him home twelve years later does he return, bitterness weighing heavily in his heart.

Violet Gothel doesn’t know why Jacob is angry. He abandoned her. He left her pregnant with their twins to raise alone and he didn’t answer her calls. When Jacob sees his son, the manipulation tactics used by Violet’s mother begin to untangle. While they put the pieces together, Violet can’t help but fear what else her mother has done with her carefully built tower of lies.

LET DOWN YOUR HEART is a retelling of the classic Rapunzel fairy tale set in a small town contemporary romance atmosphere.

Welcome To

Have you read Roxanne St. Claire’s Barefoot Bay series? I’m so excited to take part in a fabulous program call Kindle Worlds. It’s where I write a book set in another author’s world! That means I got to frolic through Roxanne’s white shores of Barefoot Bay for my next release to give a taste of my all new series!

When Sophia White’s wicked stepmother attempts to nab complete control of Kingdom Cosmetics with trickery, Sophia flees the downtown Manhattan apartment for the shores of Barefoot Bay until she can have an opportunity to take her deceased parents’ company back. There she winds up with seven adorable pets and the idea to start a pet spa at the local upscale resort, The Casa Blanca.

While Sophia made her escape, she isn’t forgotten. Her stepmother seethes in her penthouse apartment and plots for control of Kingdom Cosmetics. Waiting until the time is right, she sends a man as her poisoned apple to do her bidding.

Peirce Chase may be treated like a huntsman, but he’s not going to (metaphorically) stab Sophia in the heart. He loves her too much. But Peirce can’t just walk away. The evil wannabe queen has blackmailed him into working for her. If he can’t convince Sophia to sign over her shares of the company, he’s off to jail for a murder he didn’t commit.

Falling into an idyllic romance at the beach wasn’t in either of their plans and it may be the thing that shatters them both.

AS WHITE AS SAND is a retelling of the classic Snow White fairy tale set in a small town contemporary romance atmosphere.

This book is exclusive to Amazon only, BUT you don’t have to own a Kindle to read books from Amazon! There are a number of ways you can read Amazon e-books. The EASIEST way is to go to your app store (available on phones and tablets) and download the FREE Kindle App. Log into your Amazon account (or create one) and you’re all set! You can also download a FREE app and read on your computer screen! More information can be found here.

And no! My other books, or the upcoming Fairy Tales In A Small Town series, is not going to be Amazon only. It’s just a Kindle World book. Kindle Worlds is an exclusive program created by Amazon. The first Fairy Tales In A Small Town book is scheduled to release in October. As White As Sand is an introduction to what this new series is all about. It will completely stand-alone from the rest of the series, but I hope you check it out!

11 authors are in this Barefoot Bay Launch! Join us all day at our Facebook Event. You can win many prizes and 3 Kindles are up for grabs! If you can’t make the actual event, the posts will be available for several days so you can still enter.

Welcome to Fairy Tale Fridays! It’s where I talk about my all new series, Fairy Tales In A Small Town. First up? What exactly does that mean?! Am I leaving contemporary romance for romantic fantasy?

NOPE!

Fairy Tales In A Small Town are very literally, fairy tales told in a small town world. I took the fun story elements of the original fairy tales and tweaked them for a modern, contemporary retelling. All the wicked stepsisters and moms, but none of the magic in the mirrors.

Coming *next week* (oh my gosh, it’s here already!) is Snow White in AS WHITE AS SAND. It’s set in the amazing world of Roxanne St Claire‘s Barefoot Bay.

But…if there are no fantasy elements, what about the 7 dwarfs?!

I hear you, but no worries, Snow has 7 other little guys following her about who save her and point her in a new direction in life.

And that whole most beautiful of all with a wildly jealous stepmother who wants to reign supreme in the beauty world? Got that too!

What about that Huntsman who works for the evil queen, but has a loving heart under him? Got him too.

The dashing prince who wakes Snow and escorts her into her happily ever after? He’s totally there too.

I’ll be at the Kindle World Launch NEXT WEEK on Facebook spilling all the details on Snow White’s book. I’ll be in the 8pm EST slot and prizes will be given away all that day! Join us! If you can’t make the times, don’t worry the posts and prizes will be available for a day or two after the event ends.

So excited to say Exes And Emotions, Turtle Pine 3 is in the wild! A print version is coming soon! I’m waiting on a couple things to happen before I can release it. If print is your jam, I am so very sorry, but it is coming! A link for Barnes And Noble is also coming. I’ve been sitting on this post all day waiting on B&N to post it live in their store, but so far they haven’t.

Love doesn’t hang around in the shallow end. You have to dive deep for it.

Turtle Pine, Book 2

Tequila shots 1, Beth Revlin 0.

No respectable single mom wakes up in a stranger’s hotel room with no memory of what happened the night before. When Beth does just that, she willingly takes the walk—more like a sprint—of shame, rather than face her humiliation.

Then Mr. One Night Stand turns out to be Mr. New Swim Coach to her five-year-old daughter. Holding her head high and pretending nothing happened seems like a good plan.

Olympic gold medalist Jason Johnson plans to stay in Turtle Pine just long enough to recharge his batteries. But Beth and her painfully shy little girl touch something in the depths of his soul. Besides, he needs to return Beth’s shoes without inciting small-town gossip—and tell her the truth about that night.

Beth can’t deny she’s attracted, but she’s not just guarding her own heart. She’s guarding her children’s hearts as well. If Jason captures them only to walk away, the pain he’ll leave in his wake could be more than she can handle.

Warning: Contains an Olympic swimmer who’s got his strokes down to a science, and a single mom who’s seriously considering jumping into the deep end.

If you’re on the hunt for a serious, meaty romance—THEN STOP READING HERE. Cupcakes And Crushes is as light and fun as the title. A comfort read, a palate cleanser. You like Hallmark movies? This is the book for you!!

Sometimes there is enough sweet to make up for the bitter.

Turtle Pine, Book 1

Years ago, a broken heart sent Annie Cookie running from home, and she’s never looked back—until now. Her grandpa’s broken wrist means the family bakery is at risk of losing two big orders.

Reluctantly, Annie returns to Turtle Pine to help out, only to discover it’s not just seven hundred cupcakes she has to bake, but also a wedding cake for the half-sister who stole her high-school sweetheart. Annie left town to get away from her sister. No way is she getting mixed up with her again. Once the cupcakes are done, she’s outta there.

Back in high school, Cade Revlin hid his crush on his brother’s girl, but when his brother dumped Annie for another Cookie sister, Annie slipped through his fingers and out of town. Now that she’s back, he’s determined to give her a reason to stay.

He’s got one week to change her mind. Or she’ll be gone in a cloud of powdered sugar.

Warning: Contains small-town meddling, family drama and all the necessary ingredients for a second chance at love—if they have the guts to turn up the heat.

Oh, dear heavens, Turtle Pine, Alabama. Home of the fierce Snapping Turtles. Their biggest claim to fame was consecutively winning the AA basketball state tournament for ten years straight.

Get. Me. Out. Of. Here.

The only reason Annie wasn’t breathing in a paper bag while waiting for her suitcase to come around the baggage carousel, was because she knew she was only sticking around long enough to do a favor. Then it was back to the highly acclaimed bakery she worked at, where the booking for weddings was currently eighteen months in advance.

Step one of getting out of Turtle Pine the fastest was finding her ride to her grandparents’ house. There was no tall, slender woman with an eye out for a hot date impatiently waiting for her. Not that Annie was shocked, but she had hoped for once her half-sister Tina would have something together besides her shirt matching her shoes.

Annie aimed her phone away from the sunlight pouring in through the glass front windows of Turtle Pine’s regional airport. She scrolled through her contacts in a game of eeny, meeny, miny, moe in hopes of finding a ride from the airport to her grandparents. Her grandma didn’t drive anymore, and Grandpa was uncomfortable going much farther than the grocery store with his broken wrist. Annie had two other half-sisters she could choose from, but she was only fine with calling one of them. Sadly, thatsister didn’t live in Turtle Pine. Out of four sisters, Mary was the only one who hadn’t been raised by their grandparents.

Contact list it was. A total introvert who’d been gone from town for years? Annie sighed and scrolled some more. As if there wasn’t enough fun packed into coming back home, it was surely about to get even more so. She shielded the screen with a magazine and attempted to tilt it a little more to choose from slim pickings when the shadow of a man moved over her.

“Annie?” The shadow belonged to a tall man who appeared to have shopped at Camouflage, Mud and More. His brow lifted a touch as his head tipped to the side. “Annie Cookie?”

That was her. Now who was he and—wow. She rubbed a hand under her nose to get a refreshing whiff of her hand lotion. He must be three days late for a shower. Once upon a time, you could have found her looking and smelling like that. She would have been making one of those goofy in-love grins through every last minute of it. The very thought of it flipped her stomach. She couldn’t pin down if it was butterflies or nausea. They were simultaneously good and bad memories. “That’s me.”

His smile broadened. “You’ve changed since high school. I would give you a hug, but I’m so nasty.”

He extended a grimy hand her way. There was something about his face that was vaguely, sort of familiar. By his greeting, she was one hundred percent sure she was supposed to recognize him. But her mind was all blank. Fake smile it was as she accepted his hand. Dear, God, please let her put a name to his face soon. …continued on Cupcakes And Crushes page

Are you snowed in? Or…maybe you’re just stuck at work. Either way, enter for you chance to win an early copy of Cupcakes And Crushes! Or maybe you’re none of those things. Still enter to help me figure out how to use Rafflecopter for the first time! It’s all a win no matter where you look!